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Zeke Shelton
History ---- Born and raised in Crystal Springs, Zeke has always been a bit of a local fixture (or a local nuisance, whichever way you want to cut it). His parents were upper middle-class, and he was an only child who was never particularly lacking in anything growing up. Still, he was drawn a bit toward the more ‘deviant’ cultures, slowly and dubiously at first but more and more as he became older. He went to public schools in and around Crystal Springs; his childhood was really fairly normal all told, though he was a somewhat odd child who was rather calm and rational for a youngster. Upon hitting middle school he became more of a typical teenage boy, though he was always more artsy than anything else, and had some weird behaviors and had a tendency to be a little too imaginative and believe too much of what he read (or, really, believe too much of what he read was possible, given that he read a lot of science fiction and fantasy). He went to a large high school and had an even mix of friends and people who picked on him a little too much, though he mostly hung out with the artsy crowd, particularly the theatre and drama groups (he even got into a bit himself, but he proved to be a really crappy actor, though he handled the stage stuff okay). What he was not expecting, however, was that reality would suddenly and quite literally separate itself from him. He was fourteen when it happened, and it was a sudden affair, and what most would define as a drug trip gone wrong. It was his first time trying a drug – marijuana, in fact – and it was like the entire world opened open. Everything felt more real, more tangible, and above all, he felt like he could change that reality. It was a pretty awesome high, if not one generally associated with weed. However, it didn’t go away when the high did. In fact, it got worse. Things started responding to him. He felt like things could be changed, altered, and he tried to do it, and succeeded. The trouble is, the laws of reality didn’t like that too much, and rather abruptly slapped him right back. Luckily, there was a small chantry of mages, mostly comprised of Cult of Ecstasy with a few Dreamspeakers. They ran across the backlash of Paradox and found the poor ‘doxed out youngster, and the Cult of Ecstasy brought him in and started teaching him how to control himself and started teaching him basics. Unfortunately, the youngster never really took to his lessons. Sure, he learned, he listened, he practiced, but the formalities of even the loosely structured Cultists never appealed to him. He stayed on the outskirts and refused to join either, being a typical young ‘rebel’ with a taste for a dislike in authority. School was still adhered to, but his grades tanked horribly as public school became utterly unimportant. The young Mage, after all, had other things to learn which were wholly more fascinating than learning about algebra and writing term papers. After making it out of school, he grabbed a bartending license and has a job at a local bar for his mundane existence. He lives apart from his parents and has since he turned eighteen, but communicates with them on occasion; his relationship with them has been strained since he came out to them at age 16. They didn't entirely shun him or anything of the like, but his father hasn't ever fully accepted it and his mother has treated him oddly ever since. Many of the kids at school, too, weren't exactly accepting of this. He got beat up some. It sucked. A lot. For the non-mundane, he has been a local fixture for a while – ever since he Awakened and became aware of himself enough to mind himself around the local supernaturals. He’s never been a ‘secret’ and has never been a real problem, and has always been fairly vocal about the fact that he didn’t really belong to either of the local Traditions. However, despite the lack of true allegiance he did have allies and friends within the chantry, which sucked a lot when the chantry finally fell apart when the big fight happened. He wasn't directly involved (in fact, he actively avoided being involved, both for his safety and the predicted fallout afterwards), but he helped with the clean up. He’s been quiet for awhile, supposedly mourning his lost friends and going about restructuring his life. He reclaimed the Sanctum of one of those who was lost in the battle, and though it took some time to restructure it towards him, personally, it has come into its own. Zeke also has a couple of peculiarities that came into being as he came into his own as a Mage. One may suspect this has to do with the nature of his essence, but whatever it is, strange things tend to happen around the young Mage. Sometimes these things are helpful, and sometimes they are at best confusing and obnoxious. He has a tendency for random strange things related to his Spheres to occur. Most recently he went on a Seeking, in which he abruptly disappeared from the city for nearly a month. His Avatar, which takes the form of a flighty, nosy, and Opinionated black hare he calls Anastasius, led him on a Seeking that involved pressing himself through the constraints of time and space, mostly stressing the use of the Correspondence and Time spheres. He nearly died twice, and if it hadn’t been for Anastasius biting him at one point during the dream quest he would have been lost entirely. He still carries a scar there, and got a tattoo to cover it. Damn it, Anastasius. He has recently returned from said quest, and, having lost his job, applied for and got another at a local bar. He just forgot to mention to the garou that he was back, too. Oops. *'Personality' He's a friendly sort, if not a bit lewd and punkish, and is a rather typical punk nineteen year old. He's careful enough nowadays, though has a tendency to push limits a little (and has been bitten by Paradox enough to know it’s not a good idea, but when you can push that little bit more, it's all so tempting...). Being an Orphan, he doesn’t really have any true goals toward Ascension beyond survival and looking out for himself. He often sees this whole business as a bit of a fascinating inconvenience, almost like a drug you know you shouldn't touch but it’s just too tempting. Otherwise, he's an outgoing, amiable, and generally well-meaning guy, though he has a tendency toward bull-headed stubborn streaks and an almost rebellious nature at times. However, he's comfortable in his skin, and tends to be content with who he is without worrying overly much about what others may think. He still likes people to like him (indeed, he's not completely uncaring about what people think of him) but won't change himself for others. His relationship with his Avatar is a bit strained. It's a little difficult to take a black hare seriously, but Anastasius sort of demands it. The Avatar claims to be an old soul and that the young nitwit would do well to listen to him, damn it, but corralling the rebellious youth is something else entirely. Still, they manage. Somehow. *'Paradigm' Zeke has a bit of a weird paradigm that has developed through his teachings, and thus is a mixture of what is commonly taught by the Cult of Ecstasy and what has been developed through his own set of experiences. He is dubious of Ascension and more angled toward survival in a world that is unfriendly toward Supernaturals, and often views his abilities as a fascinating curse, though one he would never want to be separated from now. He doesn't see himself as entirely separate from humanity; in fact, he often wishes he could blend in, but he'd also never want to close his eyes again. His ability to manipulate the Tapestry comes from his belief that nothing is forever; anything can be changed, but not everything is meant to be changed. One has to be careful so as to not risk backlash, but for the most part things exist to be altered (or to have the chance to be), though the intent to do so should be to better something, not to destroy things. Also, experience heightens; sex, drugs, the thrill of adrenaline and excitement makes things easier and makes it less difficult to slip past assumed realities. Part of all of this is his Primordial avatar speaking through him, even though he may not entirely know it yet. *'Avatar' As stated, his Avatar is fairly strong and takes the appearance of a black hare named Anastasius. The Avatar's essence is Primordial, and he is a rather demanding, insistent little bastard. They don't always get along, and Anastasius is prone to making himself known in rather sudden, sharp ways when the young Mage needs the guidance. It's not unheard of for the Avatar to pull Zeke's attention out of reality altogether to have a 'chat'. However, despite this, Anastasius has proven to be an invaluable guide, and has inevitably saved the Orphan from many a distaster. The Avatar has memories of his Past Lives which help significantly (and the Avatar's soul is indeed an old one). One of these Past Lives, however, isn't a pleasant one, and as a result bad nightmares and flashbacks of things that aren't entirely discernable can happen at random. Play List: Bend The Rules - Saybia Clevermind - Poets of the Fall Take Back The City - Snow Patrol *'Logs': http://motomoyo.livejournal.com/ Friends and Acquaintances ---- [[Nero Lin|'Nero Lin' ]] ...I get kinda a weird feeling from him sometimes, like he knows a lot more than he says he does, but... I don't know, I'm probably just being paranoid. He's a nice guy, I like hanging out with him, doing whatever. It's nice to have someone around that either isn't a damned (ex)Technocrat or someone who doesn't think I'm an incompetent idiot for choosing ''not to affiliate with anyone''.'' I get the feeling though sometimes that I may be a little much? for him sometimes. '' [[Rosalind Jaffe|'Rosalind Jaffe']] Probably one of the better bosses I've had. She's nice, easy going, hired me without bugging me too much about my age like so many bars around here. And she's a fae. A ''fae. I mean, what? I didn't even think those really existed...'' [[Michael Corelion|'Michael Corelion']] An ex-technocrat. I... don't want to trust him. Or like him. At all. And Roz is apparently ...agh, I don't even want to ''think about it. But, eh. I guess he seems kind of harmless most the time. Though the suspicious part of me wants to think he's the reason that the Technocracy even found me here...'' [[Nicholas Grey|'Nicholas Grey']] Guess he's nice enough, for a Garou. We've got kind of an understanding? I don't think he trusts me very much. [[Branwen Wilde|'Branwen Wilde']] Her and Kristian... two more fae. And she's--I don't know. I don't know her that well. But they... especially him... [[Kristian Holt|'Kristian Holt']] ...offered to protect me. That's... weird. I mean, nice, sure, after the whole stupid thing with the Technocrats, but I'm not sure I like this whole thing very much. Just because it feels like so much damned ''attention.'' Sheet ---- Freebies: +2 Arete (8), +2 WP, +1 Merit, +1 BG, +3 spheres (21), +2 stats (+2 phys), +1 talent = 45 Integrity: Mostly, he's a stubborn bastard. This also touches into his Resistance 1 score, and the reason he's yet to get into a Tradition and part of the reason he doesn't get along well with his Avatar. Damn Orphans. Vigilance/Streetwise/Sensitivity: He's an Orphan. This also ties into his wits and perception scores; he has to be on his toes and he has to be careful to survive. Sometimes this manifests as a bit of paranoia, even. Academics: Just a general well-rounded high school education. Culture: This mainly deals with just a number of the more punkish and indie subcultures around the city's nightlife. Rituals: Just enough to recognize what they are; some Rotes and things require some amount of ritualistic things. Lore: Mage, Garou to a lesser extent. Contacts: A handful of regulars around the nightclubs and things. Recent Happenings ---- Category:Idle PCs